Fundamentals of Communication - Quiz 4

How does an organization's culture shape and reflect its communication processes?

- Organizational culture is reflected in an organization's structure, rites and rituals, rules and roles, and stories - An organization's culture affects how it conducts both formal and informal communication to internal and external audiences

In what ways can we improve our organizational communication skills?

- Using communication technology effectively - Being adaptable to diversity - Avoiding or reducing burnout

Why and how do people join small groups? (5...)

- need to belong - seek protection - want to improve their effectiveness at a skill - pressured into joining - People are socialized into small groups in several stages

Synergy

A collaboration that produces more than the sum of its parts

Theory of Structuration

Anthony Giddens' theory that all human behavior, including communication behavior, is influenced by an ever present tension between creativity (or agency) and and constraint (structure)

What are small groups and what do they do?

Collections of 3-20 people who focus on discrete tasks, evaluate and advise, create art and ideas, provide services and support, promote social networking, compete, and /or help their members to learn

How can you communicate better in a small group?

Contribute to a positive socialization experience for new members, and you can maintain good group relationships by contributing to a constructive environment and helping to build group cohesion

Ending romantic relationships involves...

Differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding, and terminating

What communication challenges are common in organizations?

Globalization, Communication technology, Sexual Harassment, and Work/Life Conflict

Forming romantic relationships involves...

Initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding

Upward Communication

Messages we send to people at higher levels of the organizational hierarchy than we occupy

Downward Communication

Messages we send to people at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy, such as subordinates, interns, and staff members who report to us

Strategic Control Approach

Model of organizational communication that recognizes that people in an organization can use communication to control their environments and act in organized and mutually satisfying ways

Anticipatory Phase

Phase of group socialization in which people decide to join a group and make judgements about what they expect from that group and its members

Encounter Phase

Phase of group socialization in which the group meets for the first time

Organizational Rituals

Repeated behaviors that provide a familiar routine to an organization's experience

Relational Maintenance Behaviors Theory

Theory specifying the primary behaviors people use to maintain their relationships

Social Penetration Theory

Theory suggesting that the depth and breadth of self disclosure helps us learn about a person we're getting to know

Small Group

a collection of people working interdependently to accomplish a small task; small groups typically include 3-20 members

Grapevine

a metaphor used to indicate that informal messages are often conveyed in upward, downward, and lateral directions simultaneously

Transactional Approach

a model of organizational communication that makes no distinctions between senders and receivers of messages. According to this approach, everyone in an interaction is simultaneously encoding and decoding.

Real Time

a simultaneous form of mediated communication in which messages are exchanged, interpreted, and responded to instantaneously similar to a face to face conversation

Self Disclosure

act of intentionally giving others information about oneself that one believes is true but thinks others don't already have

Organizational Communication

an area of study devoted to examining the interactions that occur in structured groups

Conflict

an expressed struggle between at least 2 independent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals

Centralized Power Structure

an organizational structure in which a small number of people hold the majority of the decision making ability

Resources

assets that enable a group to be productive

Organizational Rites

ceremonial acts and practices that convey characteristics of an organization's culture

Burnout

chronic sense of exhaustion or apathy that can come from long-term frustration and stress

Instrumental Communication

communication about day-to-day topics and tasks

Informal Communication

communication that is not sanctioned by an organization but arises from the social interactions of its members

External Communication

communication with people outside the organization

We maintain our relationships by the way we handle...

conflict, privacy, emotional communication, and instrumental communication

Informal Roles

functions that are adopted by specific people rather than dictated by the organization

Strategic Ambiguity

leavings parts of a message open to different interpretations intentionally, to accomplish a specific goal

Formal Communication

messages that come from the organization and relate to its operations

Lateral Communication

messages we share with peers or anyone who occupies the same position in the organizational hierarchy as we do

Information-Transfer Model

model of organizational communication in which communication is seen as a pipeline through which information flows from one source to another, and which assumes that receivers will assign the same meanings to a sender's words that the sender did.

Diffused Power Structure

occurs when the decision making ability is spread evenly among the organization's members, with no one member or group holding excessive power

Open Systems

organizations that communicate and share information with other people or groups, including government offices, media outlets, advertisers, and benefactors

Closed Systems

organizations that interact little with people or groups outside the organization

Assimilation Phase

phase of group socialization in which members decide to accept the group's culture and the group acquires its own identity

Antecedent Phase

phase of group socialization in which people develop certain beliefs, attitudes, and expectations about a group

Exit Phase

phase of group socialization in which people leave a group

Formal Roles

roles that involve functions prescribed by the organization itself

Personal Stories

stories in which people describe how they see themselves and how they want others to see them

Corporate Stories

stories that organizations tell about their histories, goals, and identities

Collegial Stories

stories that people tell about other people in their organization, often to comment on their positive and negative attributes

Depth

the degree of intimacy of our self disclosures

Hierarchy

the division of people into levels of authority

Creativity

the freedom to make independent choices

Globalization

the increasing interconnectedness of societies and their economies as a result of developments in transportation and communication

Divorce

the legal discontinuation of a marriage

Constraint

the limitations imposed on creativity by the context in which you are working

Internal Communication

the messages people within the workplace convey to one another

Work/Life Conflict

the pressure of balancing the demands of work with those of nonwork life

Breadth

the range of topics we self disclose to various people

Norm of Reciprocity

the social expectation that favors should be reciprocated

Integrating Stage

the stage of relationship development at which a deep commitment has formed, and the partners share a strong sense that the relationship has its own identity

Bonding Stage

the stage of relationship development at which partners make a public announcement of their commitment to each other

Experimenting Stage

the stage of relationship development at which people converse to learn more about each other

Initiating Stage

the stage of relationship development at which people meet and interact for the first time

Intensifying Stage

the stage of relationship development at which people move from being acquaintances to being close friends

Circumscribing Stage

the stage of relationship dissolution at which partners begin to decrease the quality and quantity of their communication with each other

Differentiating Stage

the stage of relationship dissolution at which partners begin to view their differences as undesirable or annoying

Avoiding Stage

the stage of relationship dissolution at which partners create physical and emotional distance from each other

Terminating Stage

the stage of relationship dissolution at which the relationship is official deemed to be over

Stagnating Stage

the stage of relationship dissolution at which the relationship stops growing and the partners feel as if they are just "going through the motions"

Interdependence

the state in which what happens to one person affects everyone else in the relationship

Social Loafing

the tendency of some members of a group to contribute less to the group than the average member does, particularly as the groups grow in size

Organizational Culture

the values, customs, and communication behaviors that organization members share and that reflect the organization's distinct identity

Sexual Harassment

unsolicited, unwelcomed behaviors of a sexual nature in the workplace